Electrolytic process.



HEB @TATES rarest curios;

CHARLES 3'. REED, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

ELECTROLYTIC PROCESS.

filed June 3, 1912.

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, CHAiiLiis J. REE a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented percentage of free acid in too solution increases, the deposition of the metal with a given current. decreases. This difiiculty was overcome in the case of zinc by a process described by Carl llcring J. Letters Patent No. 798,790, granted September 5, 1905.

Cobalt has the same property as zinc of being unreduced and unaffected in solution as sulfate by contact with metallic lead. I find that. an anode of spongy lead may be used to combine with the (S0,) of the sulfate of this metal to produce insoluble sulfate of lead and prevent the liberation of free sulfuric acid in the electrolyte. This enables me to electrolytically deposit the metal from its sulfate solution without the inetllcicncy due to the presence of free sulfuric acid.

ln the operation of my process, I prepare a. solution of the sulfate'ot cobalt and elec: trolyze it. with a cathode of any suitable conducting substance, such as carbon, copper, aluminum or any conducting body on which it is desired to dcposi the cobalt, and an anode of spongy or finely-divided lead, such as is usually employed in the negative plates of a lead accumulator. The sum of the reactions which take place may be represented by the following chemical equation:

Flint-C030,:Co-l-PbSU This means that the metallic lead combines with the S0, of the cobalt sulfate and the cobalt is set free in the metallic state, there being no other chemical changes in the solii- Specification of Letters Patent.

this application Serial No. 701,297.

practice in the discharge of an accumulaton When this has occurred I remove the anode (replacing it with a fresh one) and place it in a dilute solution of sulfuric acid and passan electric current through it in'the opposite direction, using it as a cathode until the lead sulfate has all or nearly all been reduced to metallic spongy lead and the SO, liberated as sulfuric acid. The electroden ay then be again used as an anode in the deposition cell and the operation becomes cyclic, the sulfuric acid being a icy-product which may be recovered and utilized.

1 do not limit myself to the use of any particular substance as a cathode for receiving the of nickel or aluminum.

By the term anode of spongy lead as herein used, I do not mean that the entire electrode consists neccssarll otlepongy lead, but only that it contains spongy lead chemically-active materials. It may, for example, be made up of a conducting framemi-a of hard load, antimonial lead or other suitable material capable of conducting the electric current and having spongy lead a plied to or contained in it, as in the or inary accumulator plate.

This application is'a division of Serial sists in elcctrolyzing said solution, using an anode of spongy lead, and subsequently re generating said anode material in a-sepa rate receptacle, substantially as herein de,

scribed. Y

3. The process of reducing metallic-foo,-

baltfrom its solution as sulfate, which 'con-' sists in electrolyzing said solution,.ii'sing an anode of spongy lead, endelectrolytically regenerating said anode-materialin a, sepa Patented Mar. it, 191%. No Drawing. Original application filed May 10, 1911, Serial No. 326,148. Divided and deposit of cobalt, but, prefer a sheet a spongy lead, substantially as j all 3 consists in electrolyzing said solution, using rate receptacle, substantially as herein set acid as a by-product, substantially as herein forth. 1 described. 10

4. The process of recovering metallic 00- In testimony whereof I affix my signature balt from a solution of its sulfate, which in presence of two Witnesses.

CHARLES J. REED. an anode of spongy lead, electrolytically 1e-' Witnesses:

generating'saicl anode material in a sepa- FRANK A. LEACH, rate receptacle, and recovering the sulfuric J. M. JACKSON. 

